News & Achievements

#Story of Young Entrepreneurs series: #Story Number :2   #IEM #ALUMNI We sat down with the team of the highly successful Drivers4Me to map their trail from concept to launch, and to bring to you the extraordinary journeys of your alumnus. We applaud their dedication, expertise and devotion to solving one of the myriad problems that plague us in our everyday lives. Read a first hand account of how they got inspired to create this business model.   "The drive to create a reliable online platform for hiring professional drivers came early in our college days. We were familiar with the existing driver hiring system - through local "driver centres" and through occasional first hand experiences and those of friends, family and relatives, we knew that this was a highly limited and failing system that needed change. We realised that, with the rise in smartphone usage, and the significant growth of the Automobile industry, an online solution to driver hiring was the need of the hour.   We are a group of 5 Computer Science Engineers, all hailing from the Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM), Kolkata, who launched Drivers4Me, our dream project in 2018. My team members are Paramartha Saha, Prachatos Mitra, Ronit Ray and Rajarshi Basu.   We were studying the existing system of driver hiring in East India predominated by local driver centres. The system was severely flawed as it lacked reliability, professionalism, and a standard pricing model. The driver centres were not big on customer experience, could not be scaled and made little or no use of common-place technology (smartphones and the internet). Booking was a tedious process and you had to make several phone calls to get the best deals on service. In addition to owners of private cars, businesses where the movement of cars are involved, require these services. This includes key players in the Transportation industry.   Our work began with a PoC in 2017 by developing mobile apps for the customers and the drivers. Upon releasing them, we received an astounding response from the users and had already completed 300 trips by the end of the year. Back then we were in our makeshift "office" Ashram Campus - a gesture of motivation from our College Founder Director. As my team mate Ronit recalls, "One of the main reasons for our initial success and growth is because of our CS (Computer Science) background, and also because we handled everything (app & web development, operations, finances, driver hiring & training) ourselves, instead of using 3rd party service providers." Our ecstasy at the initial success almost scared the newly admitted candidates away! Emboldened by our progress, we continued to strive forward. By December 2018, with 5000+ trips and introduction of B2B services, Drivers4Me was official! From that point, there was no turning back. We had all secured campus placements, but we took the entrepreneurial plunge eventually. My other team mate Paramartha Saha mentions, "Creating a successful startup was always my dream and every day we are coming one step closer to make it come true. We need support from everyone to make it successful. We have seen demand for this service, all we need is more people to try it out. Leaving a job and starting a business is always a hard decision to make not knowing whether it will be successful or not, but I am happy that I made that choice."   The early phases of a startup are the real testing times, but, with the motivation and sticktoit-iveness of the team that we have overcome hurdle after hurdle. We had to work through problems such as what would make us attractive to users and what would be our unique features. We realised early on that, the best way to cater to a market of this magnitude was to go online! "We were inspired by other offline services that went online to use technology for improving customer experience in driver hiring. We have useful features such as driver tracking, online payment, custom trip types built into our app. Moreover, we are using AI models to match customers to drivers they prefer while keeping price competitive with other players", says my friend and co-partner Prachatos. We had to brainstorm to figure out what would make Drivers4Me a viable choice from the Driver's point of view as well. We understood that to build a system which can deliver, we needed to focus on both our stakeholders - the customer and the driver. One of our core members, Rajarshi Basu reiterates that at Drivers4Me, we provide insurance, perks, training, grooming and feedback support which go a long way in a driver's welfare and to strengthen the company's relationship with them. Besides the low commission rates, such options make us an appealing choice for them. These were some of the several key questions we had to answer to pave the way for growth. From rooftop meetings to expanding in a new city in October 2019 to the present user base of 20000+ and over 850 drivers, we have persevered together through thick and thin.   We have met and worked with several unique and talented individuals. We brought Hillol Barman - a highly talented and creative individual and a true wizard with the graphical elements, into our journey and he has been with us ever since. "I joined the team a few months after they had formed. As a newbie designer for a company, every single sector starting from promotional flyer to user interface was a challenge for me. Till this day, every time I face new challenges and motivate myself by acquiring those. To expand the learning curve, I am also learning the front end of app and web development from the team members. I can see my future career here with my team very promising and this has been all possible for the good teamwork and understanding among us.", Hillol says.   We have come a long way in our venture, but we still have much further to go. The interest our product has garnered among the masses especially with noteworthy articles in several esteemed newspapers (such as the Times of India, Anandabazar Patrika, The Telegraph and many others is quite remarkable. Apart from Kolkata we provide services to a few of our big business (B2B) clients namely Cars24, Zoomcar, Revv, JW Marriott - in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad & Pune, in near future we shall start app-based B2C (individual customer) services in these cities. We have also thought of integrating more services into our app in the future like shuttle, carpooling, cab service, car servicing, etc. It is our goal to make Drivers4Me the one-stop App solution to all your transportation and car-related problems."   -Rajarshi Nag Owner, Drivers4Me #Alumni, #IEM Kolkata   #IEM #INNOVATION #YOUNG #ENTREPRENEURS #TEAM   Article courtesy: Prof. Avijit Bose, IEM [gallery ids="7350,7351,7352,7353,7354,7355"]  

Presenting Weeklong Quiz by SAE IEM Collegiate Club. Browse your social media and when the clock strikes 6, see our status, where you will find the questions. You can answer by replying to it. 7 days quiz starts on 27th of June at 06:00 pm, so gear up and follow our pages to get the questions. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saeiem/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/saeiemclub?igshid=e0jujlpw4tz8

IEM-UEM organised a Distinguished Foreign Lecture on "Understanding Human Faces: handcrafted features to deep features" by Dr. K. C. Santosh, University of South Dakota, US on 26th June 2020 from 7:30 pm. Biography:- K.C. Santosh (IEEE Senior Member) is the Chair & Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Science at The University of South Dakota (USD). Before joining USD, Dr. Santosh worked as a Research Fellow at the US National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). He worked as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the LORIA Research Centre, Universite de Lorraine, in direct collaboration with ITESOFT, France. He also served as a Research Scientist at the INRIA Nancy Grand Est Research Centre, France, where he has received his Ph.D. diploma in Computer Science. Dr. Santosh has published 60 peer-reviewed research articles, 94 conference proceedings, and 7 book chapters. He has authored 4 books, and edited 5 books, 14 journal issues, and 6 conference proceedings. He is currently Editor-In-Chief of IJSIP and an Associate Editor for several journals, such as International Journal of Machine Learning and Cybernetics and IEEE Access. He has also chaired more than 10 international conference events. His research projects have been funded by multiple agencies, including the SDCRGP, Department of Education (DOE), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Santosh is the proud recipient of the Presidents Research Excellence Award (USD, 2019) and an award from the Department of Health & Human Services (2014). #iem_kolkata #distinguishedforeignlecture [gallery ids="7334,7335,7337,7336,7338,7339,7340,7341,7346"]  

IEM-IEDC Tech series- Project Story 1 :   We sat down for an interview with the founders of “AR Education” to get a glimpse into their inner workings, and how they developed this unique app projected to be so beneficial to society.   Q: introduce yourselves and how you came to be working on this topic.   A: My name is Sugato Kundu and my partner's name is Nitin Tiwary. We are both members of the IEM-IEDC, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cell, funded by DST. We are both AR-VR enthusiasts, and IEDC has helped us hone our skills in our particular field by giving us the time and opportunity to explore it.       Q: what gave you the inspiration to merge AR and education?   A: Research scientists have found that visual representation helps a human brain to retain and store information in a more efficient manner than traditional teaching methods. Today, children who are just starting out after taught to memorise words and the alphabet. If we can show them real life examples while teaching, they can learn faster, relate better, and apply their learning to everyday life. This will help in developing an interactive method of learning from the very basics. Similarly, in fields like chemistry or astrophysics, students do not get a real life feel of the subject and its scope, hence can not relate to it, leading up to less interest in these subjects. When we implement AR in these subjects, for example, bonding in chemistry, we can demonstrate how atoms and molecules behave in real time.       Q: How do you plan on implementing this concept in real life?   A: We plan to implement AR in education from the ground level. We have made more than 26 different models for the alphabet. There will be different markers for each alphabet in the book, and when a child holds the phone above the marker, the 3-D projection of the object will be shown on the phone screen. Suppose, the child holds it over the letter 'A'. A 3-D projection of an apple hovers over the page, when viewed through the screen. The child can rotate it, and view it from various angles. This helps the budding minds of children to associate the new words they learn with their everyday life.   For the lower classes, from around classes 1-4, we have designed a model for the solar system. The working mechanics remain the same, and the student gets to view a fully professional solar system model from all angles, and have a more hands-on knowledge about a subject which was earlier explained only through photographs and drawings.   For high school students, one of the toughest subjects is chemistry. A student has to memorise the various reactions, and hardly ever does he get to visualise the actual chemistry behind it. We have made markers such that when the unique markers for each element are brought together, and viewed through a phone screen, the molecules are shown as they join to form a new structure. This helps the students to get a feel of what really happens when a reaction occurs. Most students lose hope or interest in chemistry, because they are not able to visualise the different processes at the basic level, and hence, find the subject too difficult or uninteresting.   Our technology vows to change that, and helps students learn in an easier, more efficient, and more interactive manner.     Q: What is the future scope of your project?   A: We plan to implement AR in all levels of education, be it pre-school, high school or college. AR can help elevate learning in all disciplines, whether it be engineering, pure science, arts or medicine. We plan to bring our technology to induce a thirst for knowledge from the very roots, and help change learning for the better.   We're proud to have such talented, brilliant minds working in our lab, and we hope to help them develop themselves further.   #IEM #IEDC #INNOVATION #entrepreneurship #AR #VR #TECHNOLOGY #ENGINEERING #SCIENCE #CHEMISTRY   Article courtesy: Prof. Avijit Bose, IEM [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://media.iem.edu.in/uploads/2020/06/VID-20200625-WA0064.mp4"][/video]    

Winning an Award is prestigious but it is the recognition that we have got for our hard work and dedication, that makes this award altogether more special.   IEM Toastmasters Club did not let any hurdle stop them from conducting their meetings. Even during this pandemic, we conducted regular online meetings and the #toastmasters visited various club meetings all over the World.   This #award gives a sense of #accomplishment and happiness to all the members of IEM Toastmasters Club.   We would like to thank Division K and DTM Brati Sankar Ghosh for this honour.   IEM Toastmasters Club wishes to continue it's journey effortlessly and tirelessly and produce better Communicators and better Leaders in the society. #iem #achievement #award #toastmastersclub

*IEM-UEM* organised a *DISTINGUISHED LECTURE* on Topic : IoT Sensing Technologies for Pervasive Health Management”   Time : JUNE 22nd, 2020 5:00 PM ( IST) ; 2:30 PM (BST)*   Speaker: Maglogiannis Iliass, Department of Digital Systems (University of Piraeus) *Director of the Computational Biomedicine Laboratory* http://cbml.ds.unipi.gr/en/ #iem #uem #foreigndistinguishedlecture

IEM-UEM organised a Distinguished Foreign Lecture by Prof. Alfred Rufer Switzerland on May 30 th, 2020 1:00 PM IST .   Prof Alfred Rufer received a Master's degree from the *Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne *(EPFL), Switzerland** . He was a research assistant with EPFL’s Chair of Industrial Electronics (Prof. H. Bühler). Alfred Rufer joined ABB, Turgi, *Switzerland* , where he worked in the fields of power electronics and control for high-power variable frequency converters for drives. Rufer has participated in several development teams on new applications of power electronics, like renewable energies. In 1985, he was a Group Leader for power electronics development at ABB. After that he became he was elected as a Full Professor and Head of the Industrial Electronics Laboratory at EPFL. #iem #uem #foreigndistinguishedlecture

IEM-UEM organised a Distinguished Foreign Lecture on Topic : " Condition Monitoring of Machinery" by *Prof. Len Gelman* University of Huddersfield, UK on *May 28th, 2020 5:00 PM IST .   Len Gelman, joined the University of Huddersfield as a Professor, Chair in Signal Processing and Condition Monitoring and the Director of Centre for Efficiency and Performance Engineering, in 2017 from Cranfield University, where he had worked as a Professor and Chair in Vibro-Acoustical Monitoring since 2005. #iem #uem #distinguishedforeignlectur

IEM-UEM organised a Distinguished Foreign Lecture on Topic: "Fluid-Structure Interactions from Convertible Car Roofs to Hydrofoils" Speaker : Dr. Jason Knight, University of Portsmouth, UK Time - May 21st, 2020 5:00 PM IST .   #iem #uem #foreigndistinguishedlecture